Vietnam among Asia-Pacific’s top-performing markets in 2024 first half: CNBC

A corner of Ho Chi Minh City - the southern economic hub of Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – An article by the business and financial news site CNBC hasnamed Vietnam among Asia-Pacific’s three top-performing markets in the firsthalf of this year, besides India and Japan.

As per the article, Vietnam expects to see a GDP growth rate of between 6% and 6.5% in 2024 onthe back of robust imports and exports, as well as stronger manufacturingactivity. The optimism in the Vietnamese market has also led to a more than 14%surge in foreign direct investments last year compared with 2022.

Andy Ho, chief investment officer of VinaCapital Group, was cited as saying nowis the right time for investors to enter Vietnam stocks.

“Overthe next 6 to 12 months, Vietnam will be a good market as valuations areinexpensive at about 11 to 12 times earnings for 2023. That’s about a 20% to25% discount to the regional average,” Ho told CNBC. “The average daily tradingvolume in Vietnam has gone from 500 million USD a year ago to about a billiondollars daily today,” he said.

Vietnam's Cai Mep port cluster is classified as one of the world's largest seaports with an annual container throughput of more than 4 million TEUs. (Photo: VNA)

Investorsshould also be bullish on Vietnam’s e-commerce sector, Tyler Nguyen,vice-president and head of institutional equity sales at Maybank SecuritiesVietnam said. “We are seeing 20-30% year-on-year growth every year,” he toldCNBC, pointing out that e-commerce accounts for only 2-3% of retail sales.

Whenasked about Vietnam’s possible entry into MSCI’s list of emerging marketeconomies, Nguyen said the frontier economy was still “at a very nascent stage”but “we might see good news in 2025.”/.

VNA